We undertake to assign editors whose knowledge, interest and expertise offers the best possible fit with your manuscript or project and advise you of our choice in advance of your payment.
Assessment fees cover a one-off assessment only. Should there be a mutually acknowledged need for further clarification or supplementary information from the assigned editor this will be sought and provided.
Copyright of all assessment reports remains with Border Scripts Literary and Editorial Consultancy. If you would like subsequently to share your report with publishing editors or literary agents we are generally disposed to support this, provided you ask us in advance. In such cases we prefer the whole body and context of the report to be shared, rather than fragments abstracted from it and possibly out of context.
The services, transactions and fees relating to manuscript assessments are for the assessment only. We submit exceptional manuscripts to publishers or literary agents very rarely and never as part of the assessment.
Your manuscript and or other submitted material is your intellectual property. Copyright remains with you permanently and this is entirely unaffected by all and any transactions you may have with Border Scripts.
Border Scripts will treat your manuscript and other submitted material with utmost care and confidentiality. In particular, we will not pass on your material to publishers or literary agents without your advance and written approval.
In the eventuality that we do decide to submit your manuscript to a publisher or literary agent, with your consent, there is no fee charged, though we reserve the right to receive a one-off 10% commission of the worldwide advance if the submission results in a publishing deal.
We cannot accept responsibility for manuscript and or other printed material lost in transit in either direction. (Please make sure you do not send us your only copy!) Printed manuscripts will be returned, provided you have supplied a suitable addressed envelope and return postage. Plastic wallets and or folders cannot be returned (best not to send them in the first place). Manuscripts and other materials can be supplied as email attachments for an additional printing charge of 10 pence per page.
Manuscript assessments typically take 3 – 5 weeks, but timing can be subject to variation throughout the year. We will advise you at the time of your enquiry – and before you make payment – if the volume of manuscripts we are receiving will require us to take longer. We will do our utmost to get our assessments to you within the advised timeframe. We also offer a fast turnaround service that guarantees completion of the assessment within 10 working days for an additional charge of 30% of the quoted fee.
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